Thoughts from a United Methodist Clergy Couple in Southeast Kansas
From the monthly archives:
Listening to “Breakfast” by the Newsboys. I think this may be one of the best lines in contemporary Christian music:
Breakfast clubbers, drop the hankies
Though to some our friend was odd
That day he bought those pine pajamas
His check was good with God
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Monday is Labor Day and Linda is taking tomorrow off so that she can have a four day weekend.
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At www.coffeyvillefirstumc.org on the “Newsletter” page.
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A couple of weeks ago, after prompting from the youth group, John and I joined the world of facebook. For those of you who don’t know, facebook is an online, networking program that allows you to create your own profile with a picture and information about yourself. A good thing about facebook is that you only give the information you want and the only people who can see your profile are the ones you have approved as friends. Once you do that, you can connect with your friends online and stay in touch with them on a regular basis.
Throughout my life, I have heard about the days when people used to go to town on Saturday night. In my understanding, it was a time when everyone from the country came into town for the evening to do their weekly shopping. It was a time to relax from the long week of work and spend time in community with one another.
When I was growing up, we had our own hangouts, like going roller skating every Friday night in 6th grade; going to ballgames, dragging Main or watching movies in high school; and hanging out with friends at campus ministry in college as an alternative to the drinking scene.
What I have found on facebook, is a hangout, a place to build community in our technological world in which people may move on a regular basis and may move far from friends. In addition to getting connected to our youth, in the two weeks I have been on facebook, I have found many of my United Methodist clergy colleagues located throughout Kansas, and in other states, and have felt more connected to them than ever. I have chatted online with two of my cousins, one in New York City and the other in Milwaukee, WI. The conversations were not long, but it was a way to quickly check in with someone I hadn’t talked to in awhile.
But I think the thing I like best about facebook is something called the status update. This is simply a short line that you can update as often as you want that simply asks, “What are you doing right now?” The update that you enter can then be seen by all your friends. Sometimes the status update is very simple, like, “Jennifer Collins is eating lunch.” But other times, it can be full of all kinds of emotions—excitement, boredom, worry, sorrow, joy, concern, or just plain silliness. It enables friends to share in the stuff of everyday life, at any time of the day, from where ever they are.
Community can be found in many different ways in many different places with many different people. When we joined Facebook, one of our younger colleagues said, “Welcome to Gen Y fellowship.” Facebook truly is a place of fellowship and is a gift that a younger generation has given to us. Fellowship and community may not always look the same, but God is at work bringing people together in new and exciting ways.
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“No one ever converted to Christianity because they lost the argument.”
–Philip Yancey
This is an ever important point. We don’t convert people by arguing with them, we convert people by showing them the love of Christ. This quote is used in the movie Lord Save us from your Followers. The United Methodist Portal has an article. The movie’s website is here.
Links: www.umportal.org/article.asp?id=3965
http://www.lordsaveusthemovie.com/
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I spent most of the day helping out with technology issues in the Parsons District office. I proud to report that I am now the sole member, and I presume chair, of the Parsons District Technology Committee.
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After replacing the splitter, the screens in the chapel worked very well yesterday. We seem to have finally located and fixed the problem. The brief time when the screens went off was the result of my accidentally unplugging the cable from the computer.
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A long while back I reported that I had seen the following on an outdoor church sign:
“Give to God what is right, not what is left.”
So often we give to God what is left and not what is right of our time, talents, and money. We so often forget that God has a claim not just to a 1/10th, but to the first 1/10th, not just to the first 1/10th, but to 100%. And the truly odd thing is, that the more we give to God, the more we seem to have left, the more time we make for God, the more time we have to be our true selves.
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The youth just finished a “Party at the Parsonage” with homemade pizza, cookies, and lots of Wii. I played Guitar Hero for the first time, but not well. A good time was had by all.
Note to Brian Walker: You left your gallon of cheese dip.
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We’ll have some work teams coming to Montgomery County to do flood recovery work soon. The Outreach Committee decided that we would offer lodging in our homes (much like we did for the McPherson College Choir’s visit. Let me know if you’re interested.
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